In the Wings
by dnaw12
Summary: No one really knows how they'll meet the person they'll marry, but they definitely don't assume it will be crashing into them at the airport.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing my other stories! It makes me incredibly happy, especially since I honestly have no idea what I'm doing when I write them. So I started this as a one shot, and the whole thing ended up being ridiculously long and I wasn't even finished. So I'm going to post it as a two shot instead. Here's part one, let me know what you think!**

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><p>"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath. As if the airport didn't give me ridiculous amounts of anxiety already, I, of course had to be running late. And of course the gate number for my flight had to change. Looking around, I searched for gate number 32, and when I spotted it took off racing, as fast as I could.<p>

I wasn't even really all that sure why had I flown out to Florida in the first place. Granted, it was my cousin's graduation, but we were never really that close. We hadn't even talked in a few years, so it honestly hadn't been all that necessary I was there. Not that it mattered anymore. I had gone anyways, and now I was here, surrounded by business men, and moms with loud sticky-fingered children. So here I was stressing out, trying to make it to my gate so I didn't miss my flight home to Chicago. My head was killing me as I tried to weave through all the people, and I felt my phone vibrating in my hand. Pulling it out I quickly checked the caller ID and declined the call. Why on earth was Shay calling me now? I was interrupted from my thoughts when I slammed into somebody and dropped my purse, the contents spilling out all over the floor.

"Shit!" I quickly checked my watch; I had 5 minutes to get onto my flight. I put my carry on and phone down and got onto the ground, collecting my things in a hurry. When all of my things were back in my bag I stood up and found myself face to face with a blonde haired, blue-eyed man. I could feel my face start to flush; amidst panicking about my flight and picking all of my things off the ground I'd completely forgotten that I'd slammed into someone. He didn't seem too annoyed though- considering he was smiling down at me as if this whole thing was amusing.

"I am so sorry, it's just I'm in a huge rush, and I've really got to go." I motioned towards my gate awkwardly, and grabbed my carry on and took off, cringing to myself. "Nice job Gabby," I said under my breath, and I looked back quickly, only to see him watching me run off with a small smile on his face.

I'd finally gotten to the gate and put my carry on away, and sat down in the window seat. I sighed, relieved I had made it onto my flight on time, hoping I could relax and sleep. I, of course, hadn't changed my shift, so I still had to work tomorrow. Work had been pretty boring since my old partner had left. I'd put in for a transfer but nothing had come through yet. I had a slight headache so I started rubbing my temples, this stupid vacation wasn't even worth it. "I am never going on vacation again." I said quietly.

"Oh really?" I jumped slightly, not realizing someone had sat down in the seat next to mine. "What about this one made it so bad?" Turning to face the person next to me I realized it was the guy I had crashed into earlier in my rush to make it to my flight.

I looked up at the ceiling, feeling my face flush again. "Wow, this is really weird."

He chuckled a little. He was a very appealing looking man, thin with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "I'm really sorry, you know, about earlier. And then I didn't even really apologize, it's just I thought I would miss my flight, so I wasn't too worried about the fact I had run into you. Which now that I think about it and say it out loud, that's incredibly rude and-" I stopped, realizing that I was rambling. He was still smiling at me, almost as if I was some kid who had said or done something hilarious, and to be honest it was getting kind of annoying now. "I'll shut up now."

"No, it's alright, really. Actually you forgot to pick this up, so it's a good thing I found you." He had my phone in his hand, and I got wide eyed realizing I had completely forgotten my phone was in my hand and I had dropped it. I took my phone out of his hand and smiled at him.

"Thank you, thank you so much. God, I didn't even realize I'd dropped it." He raised his eyebrows with a smirk and I rolled my eyes. He stuck his hand out to me and I shook it.

"I'm Matt, Matt Casey."

"Gabriela Dawson. But you could call me Gabby, or Dawson, either's fine."

"Alright, I like Gabby" I nodded slightly at him as I went about to checking my phone. "So-" I looked up but just as he began to speak the pilot came on the intercom and started talking. I turned my phone off, grabbed a pack of gum out of my purse, and then put it on the floor. I started busying myself with putting my hair up, and started flipping through one of the magazines in the pouch on the seat in front of me. I finally looked up when the plane started rolling, getting faster, and noticed that Matt was looking at me. He had a curious look on his face, as if he found me intriguing. I figured most likely he was thinking about how much of a nut I'd acted like. Our eyes met and he was staring intently at me. Getting a little nervous I tried to find a way to break the silence.

"Do you want a piece of gum?" I asked, holding up the pack.

"Sure," I grabbed a couple pieces and then handed the pack to him. I started opening the wrappers and shoving gum into my mouth. With the plane rolling towards take off, I suddenly remembered how nervous flying made me. I'd been so preoccupied with being late and Matt that I hadn't been anxious. My leg started tapping, and I heard Matt next to me talking.

"What?" I looked over, assuming he'd been talking to me.

"I asked if you were alright? You look a little nervous." He smiled sympathetically. God, he smiled a lot, it would probably annoy me more if he wasn't so attractive.

"Oh yeah, no I'm fine." I smiled shakily, hoping I didn't look too shaken, but ended up wincing when the plane hit a bump. I felt my stomach drop as we took off into the air.

"You've got a fear of flying?"

"No... Well yes, not so much that, more just the takeoff and landing." I started chewing on my gum more intently as my ears started to pop, looking out the window nervously.

"Well, it'll be over soon enough." I looked over at him, and his reassuring smile put me a little more at ease.

"Yeah, thanks."

"So, Gabby, what brings you to Chicago?"

"Oh, I live there. I was away on vacation, a family members graduation. It kind of sucked honestly." He laughed quietly. "What about you? I asked, turning to face him more.

"I live here too. I was actually just in Florida to visit an old friend. Why did the graduation suck?"

"Ehh," I shrugged "It was alright. I mean the party after just had bad food, not the best drinks. Plus it was all of my family members who get drunk. And not in the pleasant funny kind of way, you know. Just overall wasn't the most pleasant experience."

"Fair enough. So what do you do?"

"I'm a paramedic, what about you?"

"A firefighter." I raised my eyebrows in response, "why does that seem to surprise you?"

"Oh it's nothing." My mind went to Shay and a conversations we'd had a while back. "Do you work at Firehouse 51 by any chance, or is that weird to ask?"

"No, it's fine. And I do work at 51. Why do you ask?"

"You know Leslie Shay?" Now Matt raised his eyebrows.

"I do actually. I'm assuming you know her?"

"Yeah, she's one of my best friends. Wow, this is weird." He chuckled.

"I actually think it's the exact opposite, now I don't feel as weird asking you questions." I narrowed my eyes at him and grinned playfully.

"Yeah, you were really grilling me before, huh?" He smirked and leaned back. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, when a flight attendant stopped at our row asking if we wanted water. He took a cup and I declined, turning to face the window and leaning back, closing my eyes hoping to get some sleep.

I woke up dazed, and slowly opened my eyes. There was a lot of noise going on around me, people grabbing their bags and getting off the plane. I lifted myself up straight and looked over, seeing Matt sitting next to me, and suddenly realized I must have slept through the whole flight. He must have sensed me looking at him, because he looked over and smiled.

"You talk in your sleep you know." I got wide eyed, and he started laughing at me. "I'm kidding." I shoved his shoulder and let out a croaky 'shut up', before straightening out my clothes and grabbing my purse off the ground. A majority of the people had left by now, so Matt was in the aisle pulling down our carry on bags. I got out of my seat and grabbed my bag, following him out of the plane, and we began walking to baggage claim.

Neither of us spoke, but every once and a while he would glance at me with a small smile on his face. His bags came before mine, yet he waited for me. I turned to face him when I had grabbed both of my bags. "So why exactly are you waiting for me?"

"I wanted to make sure you had a ride."

"I was just going to take a cab, actually."

"C'mon, I'll give you a ride home." He started walking away, and I stood there for a few seconds wondering if I should politely decline. He stopped and looked back at me expectantly. I thought it over for a few more seconds, and figured I'd rather avoid having to pay for a taxi, before catching up with him.

"You know my mother would probably be very disappointed with me, accepting rides from strange men I just met."

He looked over at me quickly. "What do I look like I'm a serial killer or something?"

"No but most serial killers tend to not look like serial killers" he snorted and I started laughing. "Did you just snort?" He seemed embarrassed so I quickly said "oh don't worry about it, it was adorable." He laughed a little, and quickly changed the subject.

"So what has Shay said about me?" I'd completely forgotten that our conversation on the plane had been cut off.

"Oh, not much. She just mentioned you once when she was talking about a call you guys got."

"Any other names she's mentioned?"

"Well, Severide's her roommate, so I've met him before. I've heard of Otis, and a Mouch? Whatever that means." He smiled down at me.

"Half man half couch."

"What?"

"It means half man half couch." I ran that through my mind a couple times, and figured I'd drop it when it still didn't make sense.

"How's your firehouse? Which house are you at?" he inquired.

"I'm at 32. And it's alright, the guys are all cool. But my partner was pregnant and just had her baby, so she might not be coming back. Her replacement is a pain in my ass though. Some gung-ho jo, names chute, or whatever." I looked over at him and found him giving me that same amused look he'd been giving me earlier. "I put in for a transfer, actually, so I'm waiting to see if a spot in another house opens up."

"Well I hope you end up with a better partner, if the time comes." He stopped walking and I abruptly came to a stop beside him, realizing we'd already reached a parking garage. "Alright, here's my car, you can go sit, and I'll put your stuff in the back." I got into his truck and buckled my seatbelt. Looking back at Matt putting our bags away I got to thinking. Was this weird? I met this guy on a plane and now I'm letting him drive me home. It's not that he wasn't amazing, god he's so attractive and he seems sweet but. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the door open, and I looked over as he got into the truck and started the engine.

"Is this weird?" I wondered out loud. " I feel like it's weird." He looked over at me confused. "This whole thing, I mean I barely know you." He sighed, and I looked down and started tugging on the chain around my neck.

"Gabby, I'm just trying to be nice alright. If you don't want a ride home I can call you a cab. I promise I'm not a serial killer", he said playfully. I shoved his arm and looked up at him, and god did I feel stupid. He looked so concerned it made me feel terrible for questioning his kindness.

"No, I'd love a ride home." He smiled, and started to pull out of the parking garage. "I'm sorry, I've just been so stressed out because of this stupid trip, and I'm exhausted. I'm not usually this..." I trailed off, waving my hand, and just ended up reaching over and turning on the radio. We sat in comfortable silence for the most part, me giving him directions when needed. When we finally pulled up to my house it was 8 at night. I'd lost track of time since the flight, I had been so distracted and in my head with everything going on. His car slowed to a stop, and I unbuckled and hopped out, grabbing my things. By the time I had everything together, Matt was out of the car and standing in front of me rubbing his arms with his hands. It was only spring but he was just in a t shirt, and the wind made it cool outside.

"Thank you so much for everything, honestly. You've been really nice."

He nodded at me. "It's no problem Gabby, really." We stood there for a while, just watching each other.

Finally he spoke again, "I hope everything works out with your transfer." I smiled up at him, and then wrapped my arms around him in a hug. Slowly his arms wrapped around me too, and I breathed in, taking a second to collect my thoughts. When we pulled away he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but just ended up nodding and walking around to the drivers side of his car. I figured I'd be an idiot if I didn't say something, so I called out his name and he turned around.

"Could I possibly get your number?" He studied me for a few seconds, and then smiled.

"Sure" he walked back over and I handed him my phone, and started fiddling with my hands while he put his number in. He handed me my phone back, and walked away, saying a quiet "good night". I stood outside while he got in his car and drove off. Slowly I grabbed my bags and walked up to my house, unlocking the door and dropping everything next to my door. I kicked my shoes off and just walked to my room, so tired I didn't even bother to turn any lights on. Stripping off my jeans I just fell into bed, and when I tried to fall asleep all I could think of was this man I had just met, and his smile and those ridiculously blue eyes.

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><p>It had been an incredibly slow shift, and despite the nice weather no one seemed to be in too great of a mood. I was sitting in the living room, the TV set on some random channel with infomercials playing. Everyone else seemed to be doing something else, as there were only two other people in the room with me, one on the couch next to me snoring slightly. I racked my mind for things to do. We only had about an hour left on shift, so trying to get any sleep seemed pointless. Sighing, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out I saw that Shay was calling me, so I got up and walked outside, figuring some fresh air might be nice.<p>

"Way to not answer my call!" Her ringing voice came through the phone the second I

answered.

"You know normal people start their conversations with hi, right? I was running late for my flight and I crashed into someone. It's a long story, the point is I wasn't too worried about answering your call."

"Okay, fine, I forgive you." She sounded so disgruntled. I snorted.

"Thank you, so much Leslie. Really. I'm glad you didn't make me beg like last time." Her shrill laugh came through the phone and I lowered the volume. "Where are you that you're being so loud?"

"Oh, I'm at work," she lowered her voice, "and from a certain conversation I had with one of my coworkers," My mind went to Matt, and I figured he'd said something to Shay. " I think we need to go out for a few drinks after shift."

"Shay, it's like 8 in the morning, can't we go out for brunch or something." She snorted, and I could tell she was rolling her eyes at me.

"Fine, fine, we'll meet at that cafe by Hyde park. Do you mind if I bring Kelly along?"

"No go ahead, I'll see you then alright?" Hearing nothing back I looked at my phone screen and saw she'd hung up already. I rolled my eyes and smiled slightly to myself, turning around to head back inside. Shay wasn't one for manners when she was comfortable with you. Walking back inside I wondered what Matt had said. Had he asked about me? He must have. I suddenly realized I had his number, and probably should have texted him or something, I mean I was the one who had asked for it. Although you were supposed to wait a while, right? I'd never been good at this whole thing, whatever 'this thing' was. Besides, what if he has a girlfriend or something. It was probably a bad idea to ask for his number in the first place. I was interrupted from my thoughts when we got a call. Walking towards the ambulance I figured I'd just ask Shay about it over brunch.

Walking up to the small café, I saw Shay and Severide sitting outside. The second Shay saw me walking up her face brightened, and she got up and ran over to me, wrapping her arms around me tightly.

"Ugh I missed you, you're not allowed to go away that long again." I laughed lightly.

"I was only gone for a week, but I missed you too," she pulled back and gleamed at me. We walked over to the table, and I hugged Severide who had stood up.

"It's good to see you Dawson."

"Yeah you too, it's been a while." We all sat down, and a waitress came over to take all of our orders. When we were done ordering, I was bombarded with questions about my vacation from Shay. Severide just sat back watching her with an amused look on his face. I answered all of them, happy to be talking to my best friend. Shay had a way of brightening your day and just making you smile, and it was one of my favorite things about her. The conversation switched to a call they had gotten, and I was reminded of Matt. I wanted to ask about him but wasn't sure how to bring it up, so I hoped Shay remembered what we had talked about earlier. My thoughts were interrupted by someone saying my name. I looked up and saw both of them looking at me expectantly. "What?"

"I said, that I was wondering why Casey came to me during the shift asking about you." Shay leaned back in her chair looking at me expectantly.

"Oh yeah, that." I said slowly. Looking back and forth between the two of them I noticed even Kelly looked interested in what I had to say. "Yeah I um, knocked into him while I was running late getting to my flight. We ended up next to each other, he mentioned he was a firefighter." I stopped quickly to take a sip of my water.

"And?" Shay said expectantly.

"And I remembered you mentioning a Casey before, so I took a guess and asked if he knew you and he did." I stopped there as our food was being put on the table. I quickly took a bite of my eggs, hoping to avoid being asked more questions. After a minute of me and Kelly both eating, Shay was still looking at me.

"What?" I questioned, my mouth half full of food.

"Okay gross, and that can't be it, what else happened?" Shay looked at me exasperated.

"He gave me a ride home, okay, is that all? Are you done interrogating me?" She rolled her eyes.

"If that's all that happened, then yes" she started in on her food, eying me suspiciously.

For the most part the rest of our meal was small talk, Severide talking about some girl he met, Shay talking about some girl she met, me eating my eggs and trying to figure out some way to casually bring up Matt. Luckily I didn't have to.

"Did you at least get his number?" Shay asked as we were sitting waiting for the check.

"Yes, I did." Shay nodded slightly, looking thoughtful.

"Matt's a great guy, Dawson." Severide spoke up. He hadn't really said much where Matt was concerned. Shay scoffed, and he looked over at her.

"What?" I questioned, since obviously Shay had something on her mind.

"Him and Casey used to be best friends." Severide look at her annoyed. "What? You were!"

"Why'd you stop," I asked curiously. Shay sighed.

"Remember Andy Darden? I think you might've met him once." I nodded. "He passed a little while back. Matt and Kelly aren't exactly too friendly anymore." Thinking back I remembered Shay mentioning it. Now Severide was really shooting daggers at Shay, and he kicked the leg of her chair. "Honestly Kelly," she turned back to me "it was just a huge mess. Not as big anymore, but still kind of a mess." It got pretty quiet at our table after that. I bit my lip and looked over at Shay, who was watching him intently. I looked over at him, he was looking down at his lap. Kelly Severide, who was always confident looking was slouched down in his chair, not looking so happy to be here anymore. I figured he blamed himself, in fact I knew, you could see it in his face. I reached over and put my hand on his arm.

"Kelly, you know it's not your fault right? These things just happen sometimes, there's not always really any one to blame. But it wasn't on you." He looked up at me and just nodded slowly. We all sort of just sat there for a moment until the waitress came back. We got up and said our goodbyes, Shay making me promise to call her to make plans for later this week. I figured I'd walk around a little, the weather was nice enough.

Walking around the park I started to think about Matt. Which honestly was the only thing I'd been thinking of for the past day. I contemplated texting or calling him for a while, and then wondered if maybe I should wait since he'd only just gotten off shit two or three hours ago. Spending the next few minutes wondering what I should do, I decided that maybe if I just got it over with it would help ease my thoughts. I sat down on a park bench and pulled out my phone.

_Hey Matt, it's Gabby. From the plane._

Hitting send I put my phone in my pocket. Oh god, that sounded really stupid didn't it. I groaned, and put my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands. Why was I getting so worked up over this anyway, I barely even knew him. I could hear Shay in my head saying 'you're obviously attracted to him Dawson'. I pulled my head up and ran my fingers through my hair, taking in a deep breath. It's fine Gabby, it's not a big deal. Whatever happens, happens. Don't stress over it, things will play out, and you'll deal with it. Trying to keep true to that and stop worrying, I started to watch the people walking by to calm my nerves. I got so lost in watching this one couple arguing that it took me a second to realize someone had sat down next to me. I looked over, and it was Matt. I must have had a very incredulous look on my face, because his face broke out into a wide smile and he started laughing. Quickly coming to my senses, I sat up straighter and turned to face him more, smiling. "Are you following me or something?"

"No, as a matter a fact I'm not. Maybe you're always just one step ahead of me."

"Maybe," I said thoughtfully. "How was your shift? Shay told me about that call you guys had."

"You saw Shay?" He wondered.

"Yeah I had brunch with her and Severide earlier." Matts eyebrows raised a little higher. "We were actually talking about you. Shay mentioned you and Kelly, being best friends or whatever." He started to chew on his lip.

"Yeah no, we were close." He looked away.

"Uh, not that it's really any of my business, but I know about Darden. I think he feels guilty, blames himself." He turned to face me, and then scoffed, looking away again.

"Yeah well, the way it looks from my end is that he blames me. He's actually said it before, that he blames me... so."

"Yeah but I doubt it." He looked over at me again, his features were soft and he looked forlorn. Realizing this was only my second time meeting him, I wondered whether I should have brought this topic up or not. "Sorry, I shouldn't have even mentioned it. It's just, he said that you were a great guy, so I figured maybe he's coming off different than he actually feels." Matt nodded slowly and then grinned at me.

"Don't worry about it. Kind of was a nice therapy session" he said jokingly. I shoved his arm and we started talking some more, about work and crazy calls we'd been on. Before I knew it it had been close to two hours. Seeing the time on my watch, I felt like I should mention it, but he was in the middle of telling me about the new candidate they'd gotten a little while back, and I really didn't want to stop talking to him. Realizing I'd completely zoned off I started paying attention again.

"Anyways, he's a pretty good candidate. Hard working, you can tell he wants to be there, and he can cook."

"Well that's always a plus."

"Yeah, seems like a cool guy. The guys convinced him to ask Shay out though."

"Oh god, poor kid. She wasn't too harsh on him right?"

"Nah, she was nice about it." Matt looked at his watch quickly. Noticing how much time had passed he looked up. "Wow I didn't even realize how long we've been sitting here. I'm not keeping you from something am I?" I shook my head.

"No don't worry about it. I was probably just going to walk to the grocery store and get some stuff, maybe go home and sleep."

"You walked?" he asked me, and I nodded. "Let me give you a ride home." I started shaking my head to politely decline and he put his hand on my arm. "Gabby, let me give you a ride home."

We looked at each other for a few good seconds and I smiled slightly.

"Okay." We both stood up and started walking to his car. This time the car ride wasn't filled with silence, and I wished it had lasted longer when we pulled up to my house. He must've noticed my face drop because he let out a concerned 'are you okay?'. I looked at him quickly and nodded, smiling again.

"We should get together again, I had a lot of fun talking to you." I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah absolutely. I'll talk to you later." I got out of the car and stood there for a moment, watching Matt wave to me as he drove away. I couldn't wait to see where this was going, and hopefully it was somewhere good.

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><p>"Yes!" I cheered, pumping my fists in the air and turning around with a grin on my face. Matt rolled his eyes from the chair.<p>

"Alright, alright. Another strike, I get it, you're winning." I walked over and sat down next to him, smiling at him with mock sympathy.

"Will you finally admit that I'm better than you at bowling?" I poked his arm, grinning obnoxiously at him. He just rolled his eyes and got up to take his turn. I smiled to myself. We'd been texting back and forth for about a week since we'd run into each other at the park. He'd asked if I wanted to get together, and when he let me pick where, I'd chosen the bowling alley. I wasn't sure if it was a date or not, and I was good at bowling so I'd figured it was a good choice. This was honestly the most fun I'd had in a while. Since my old partner was gone, I didn't have anyone to talk to at work. There was no word about my transfer, so I figured worrying about that was pointless. Looking over I watched him bowl a second time and smiled. He was the one thing I had to look forward to. Well, he and Shay that is. He knocked down all the pins and turned around with his arms open, looking proud of himself. I started clapping, standing up and walking towards him since our game was over. "Good game!" We shook hands, and walked back over to our seats, putting on our shoes.

"So, any word on your transfer?"

"Nah, I'm sort of just trying to not get my hopes up."

"Who knows, maybe you'll get transferred to our house."

* * *

><p>"So she stole an ice cream truck?" Matt looked at me doubtfully. I finished chewing and wiped my mouth.<p>

"I swear! It was on the news and everything!" Matt still didn't look like he believed me. "Fine, you don't have to believe me!" He chuckled.

"I believe you, it just seems a little… out there."

"Yeah well, people are pretty out there nowadays. The other day I got a call where some woman stabbed her neighbor." He raised his eyebrows, and look at me disbelievingly. "Apparently it was an accident, or something." I got up to go refill my drink just as Matt got a call. When I got back he was talking to the person on the other end.

"I can't talk tonight, I'm getting drinks with everyone after this. Yeah we can still talk, just not tonight." I sat down and he looked at me apologetically. I waved my hand, mouthing it's okay. I wondered who he was talking to. "Alright Hallie, I'll talked to you later." Hearing the name Hallie I felt my stomach drop. He hung up and put his phone in his pocket. "Sorry about that."

"No it's alright." I took a bite off my crust, trying to keep myself from asking. In the end my curiosity won, and I asked. " Who's Hallie?" He sighed.

"She's my ex-fiance." My eyebrows raised. "She said she wanted to talk." I bit my lip, feeling my heart sink the smallest bit.

"Are you going to?" He sunk back in his chair and looked in his lap.

"I feel like I should." He looked up at me. "Not tonight though, we have plans." I nodded slowly. "We should actually get going," he said getting out of his chair and gathering his things to throw away. I nodded again, although he wasn't looking, and got out of my chair gathering my things also. I didn't know why I was so disappointed, it wasn't as if this was a date. We were just hanging out, as friends. I got lost in my thoughts as I followed him out to his car. Not that he noticed, he was obviously busy thinking about things too. Most likely thinking about Hallie. That call was most likely about one thing, and that thing was most likely them getting back together. What chance would I have against his ex-fiance. Unless I never really had a chance in the first place. Thinking about this was giving me a headache, so once we were in the car and on our way I decided to bring up something else.

"So, who's getting together tonight?" Matt looked over at me, turning his eyes back to the road after I'd startled him out of his thoughts.

"Probably Joe Cruz, Otis, Peter Mills, Shay. Maybe Capp and Hadley will be there."

"Kelly's not coming?" I wondered.

"Nah, Severide usually doesn't come."

"Yeah, he doesn't seem as sociable as Shay."  
>"Yeah. You know I've been trying to talk to him, after our whole conversation in the park."<p>

"And?"

"And it's getting a little easier. He doesn't freak out at me as much anymore."

"Well that's good. Shay said you guys were best friends, there's got to still be some of that in there somewhere." He looked over at me quickly.

"Yeah I guess." We'd pulled up to the bar, and walked in. I could immediately hear Shay laughing, and I spotted her sitting at a table with a group of guys in the back. Matt lightly touched my arm and pointed them out and we walked over. Almost immediately a bald man with a moustache spotted us and started yelling.

"Hey Lieutenant, is that a hot date you've got." I let out a light laugh and looked over at Matt who was rolling his eyes and smiling. Shay looked over her shoulder and saw me, letting out a shriek and running over.

"Hey, I didn't know you two were hanging out!" She looked at the both of us suspiciously.

"Uh yeah, we just went bowling, figured we'd come here." Matt said. Shay looked between us for a few seconds. Matt gave her a confused look before walking back to the table. Shay stood there grinning at me suggestively, while I stared back deadpan.

"What?" I asked. She shook her head, still grinning. "Okay, if you're done being weird now, shouldn't we maybe go sit down."

"Nope, we're going to get you a drink." She grabbed me by the arm, dragging me over to the bar. We both sat down and Shay ordered us scotches, telling me to "drink up" when they came. "How come you didn't tell me that you two were hanging out. We got together yesterday."

"I didn't think it was a big deal." Shay snorted. "What, I didn't! It's not like it was a date or anything."

"You're not even sure if it's a date?" Shay looked at me annoyed. "Get it together Gabby!" She was starting to get louder.

I shushed her before asking "Okay how many have you had so far?"

"Not the point."

I sighed. "Even if it was a date, it's not even like it mattered. He got a call from Hallie, apparently she wanted to talk."

Shay's eyebrows went up. "Hmm, that's weird. I thought they were done." I groaned and threw my head back.

"Why wouldn't you tell me about her?" Shay opened her mouth.

"Okay first of all you obviously were trying to act uninterested in him."

"Yeah and you obviously caught on. I just feel dumb, like I was getting my hopes up for nothing. I mean we've met like three times." Shay put her arm over my shoulder. "Well, now I have to know what Hallie's like."

"Mmm yeah, see what you're up against."

"No Shay I'm not going to compete with his ex-fiance for him. Besides, he probably thought we were hanging out as friends." We sat there for a few moments before I turned to her. "Are we going to go over there now?"

"Fine. Hold on" she turned to the bartender and asked for two beers, handing me one, and finally dragging me by the arm to where she'd been sitting originally. Everyone turned to look at us when they saw us walking over, and the conversation they were having died down by the time we were standing there.

"So Shay, you going to introduce us to your friend?" The same man who had yelled to Matt earlier questioned, smiling at us.

"Yeah guys this is Gabriela Dawson." I smiled and waved at them. She pointed them each out to me as she introduced him "This is Joe Cruz, Otis-"

"Actually my name's Brian-"

"- yeah his name's Otis," everyone chuckled "that's Mills, and Capp."

"So Dawson, I heard you're a paramedic?" Cruz asked.

"Yeah, over at 32."

He nodded. "How's that going for you?" I shrugged.

"It's going alright-"

"Oh please she hates it." Shay interjected. I looked over at her bewildered, and she turned to face me grinning. "What? You do!" The guys were all grinning at us.

"Fine, it's not the best. My partner left so now I've got this short blonde guy named Chute, or whatever."

"Chout?" I looked over at Otis who had spoken.

"Yeah, I guess. Why, do you know him?"

"Came to our house for a day, drove Shay nuts."

"He seriously spends the entire time talking about spelunking, or whatever. He's asked me out like twice, I think I'm going to go crazy." They all laughed, and I looked over at Matt, who gave me a reassuring smile.

The rest of the night went by quickly. The guys were all funny, and we spent the time exchanging stories and laughing. I'd almost forgotten about the whole Hallie thing, until everyone but Matt, Shay and I had left. We were alone at the table after Peter Mills had left. We'd spent a lot of time talking about cooking once I'd found out his family owns a diner.

"You want a ride home?" Matt asked. I shook my head.

"Nah, I think I'll probably be giving Shay a ride tonight." We both looked over at Shay who was talking to some random girl in a corner.

"Alright well, I'll see you soon alright." I smiled at him and nodded, watching him walk out of the bar. Sighing, I figured it was probably better for me to not get a ride with him, whether Shay had been able to drive or not. This stupid Hallie thing was bugging me beyond belief. What annoyed me most about it was that it bothered me so much. I shouldn't really care. But I was obviously interested in him, and I was obviously making a much bigger deal about this than needed. I figured it would be best to leave and deal with some other problems, which were getting Shay home and then getting myself home. I walked over to her, apologizing to the girl, saying we had to leave. She nodded at me politely and I took Shay, walking her out of the bar. I grabbed the keys out of her pocket and unlocked the doors, helping her into the passenger seat, and then climbing into the drivers side myself. As I started the car Shay spoke for the first time since we'd left the bar.

"So did you talk to him?"

"About what?"

"You know, about Hallie." I didn't respond, hoping she was drunk enough to forget she'd asked me a question. We were both silent for a good two or three minutes before she sing-songed, "You still didn't answer the question."

"No, I didn't Shay."

"Why not?"

"Can we just not talk about it? I barely even know him, okay it's not that big of a deal." The rest of the car ride was filled with silence. When we finally got to her and Severide's apartment I looked over, and realized it was because she'd fallen asleep. I sighed and tipped my head back against the seat, closing my eyes. I was exhausted, and really didn't feel like going home. Besides I'd probably just stay up thinking about Matt, which I wanted to avoid doing right now, so I figured I'd just crash on Shay's couch. Sighing I dragged myself out of the car, and got Shay out, pulling us both up to her place to get some rest.

* * *

><p>My eyes opened abruptly to the sound of a crash. I groaned, having no recollection of where I was, and the light bathing the room is making my head hurt. Too exhausted to care about what's going on, I close my eyes again. I lay there half asleep for a moment, remembering coming to Shay's place last night and falling asleep on the couch. I hear more noise, and groan again, figuring it's time to get up. My lack of enthusiasm only grows as I stand up and stretch, turning to see who's in the kitchen. It's Severide, bare chested standing at the stove. Obviously oblivious to the fact that he'd woken me up. I walk over the the bar in their kitchen rubbing my eyes, and sit down on the stool. He hears me coming up behind him, and he turns around, giving me a quick smile before getting back to cooking. I sit there for a minute, head propped up on my hand, eyes closing, but trying not to fall asleep. The beeping of the coffee machine makes me jolt up, and I yawn. I sit there for another minute or so watching Severide do things around the kitchen, before asking, "Is there a chance you made enough food for me too?" He turns around and I smile at his sleepily. He snorts before pulling out two plates, and putting eggs, bacon and toast on both of them. Handing one to me I give him a smile of what hopefully looks like gratitude, and start eating. I start thinking about Severide as I watch him eat (there's not really much else to do). He and I weren't close, but we were friends. Or at least close enough that sitting in silence wasn't uncomfortable, and having a conversation wasn't weird. Thinking about Him led me to thinking about Matt. I was tempted to ask if he and Matt had been getting along better, but decided against it. Instead I finished my eggs and got up to pour myself a cup of coffee.<p>

"How drunk did Shay get last night?" I turned to look at him as he spoke, he was still eating.

"Eh, not too bad. I just figured she shouldn't be driving, and I was way too tired to figure out a way to get home." I started mixing in cream and sugar. "Hope you don't mind," I said walking back over to my seat. He looked up at me when I sat down.

"Nah it's fine." We continued to sit in silence, me sipping my coffee, him gorging down food.

"So, how's the new candidate." Severide looked up at me.

"Pretty good. Eager to learn. Pretty sure I'll have an application for squad from him pretty soon." He smiled at me haughtily. I grinned at him, raising my eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?" I asked taking another sip of coffee.

"You can just tell. Besides, I'm pretty sure his dad was on squad. You know, the whole living up to your parents legacy thing." I nodded. Severide looked up behind me suddenly and I turned around, seeing Shay coming down the staircase looking frazzled and hungover. I grinned, and turned back to look at Severide, seeing him smiling also. "Rough night?" he asked, poking her in the side when she got into the kitchen.

She glared at us, giving us a quiet "shut up" before opening the fridge. "Did you eat my yogurt?" Kelly rolled his eyes and shook his head. I chuckled under my breath.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, smiling at her, slightly laughing. She fake laughed at me mockingly.

"Fine, actually. How about you?" She turned to Severide. "Did she tell you she was on a date with Casey last night. Hallie called."

"Okay, it wasn't a date-"

"It was a date," Shay interjected. "But haven't Hallie and Casey been broken up for a couple months now?" She asked Kelly. He shrugged. "Anyways, don't even worry about it, I doubt they'll get back together. Besides, if he had a choice between you and Hallie he'd choose you. I know I would. Kelly, wouldn't you choose Gabby over Hallie?"

I shook my head "You really don't have to answer that." Severide just rolled his eyes at Shay.

"So, what do you two have planned for today?" He asked as Shay walked over to stand next to me, wrapping her arm around me. I leaned my head against her shoulder.

"What you really think I want to hang out with her when she's hungover?" I said.

"Hey!" Shay protested. Severide smiled at us and left, telling Shay the rest of the food on the stove was hers. Shay took her arm from around me, and walked around to the stove. "So what do you want to do today? I'm just going to assume we're hanging out by the way. We haven't really gotten the chance to talk about anything important."

"Yeah, I've just been busy, I guess." Shay snorted.

"Oh please Dawson, you barely do anything off shift, I'm like the only person you hang out with." I opened my mouth to protest, but shut it when she raised an eyebrow at me. "Any word on your transfer?"

"No. Refill my coffee for me?" I asked holding my cup out to her. She took it from my hand. "I'm kind of not thinking about it this point, you know? It's not like thinking about it all the time is going to help or anything." Shay nodded, handing my cup back. She took the pan off the stove and started eating eggs from it, leaning back against the countertop.

"God I wish a spot at 51 would open up. My partner is so boring, every time I try to talk to her she tells me she has a headache. I mean we've been working together for what, 7 months now. There's no way she has a headache all the time."

"Yeah no kidding. I wish I could be at 51. Everyone at the bar was so fun, not to mention I'd get to work with you!"

"You'd get to see Casey more." I rolled my eyes while Shay grinned at me. "Don't even act all annoyed, you know it's true."

"Yeah well. Right now I'd just rather stay friends with him. It's nice you know, having a friend other than you."

"Although I am pretty great, right?"

I smiled at her, batting my eyelashes in mock adoration. "You're amazing."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! So I've decided to add another chapter to this. I didn't feel like I would've been able to get everything I wanted in just this chapter, so it's slightly shorter (sorry). The next one will be longer and wrap everything up :) thank you for all the reviews and let me know what you think!**

* * *

><p>It was late and I was on shift. Almost everyone was asleep, and if not, they were off somewhere doing god knows what. I was sitting on the couch, trying to watch some cop show that was on. I kept dozing off every few minutes, only to be woken by a commercial that was louder than normal, or a phone ringing in the distance. It had been a week since I'd last seen Matt, getting a text from him every once and a while, asking how my shift was going. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and pulled it out. Matt was calling me. I lowered the volume on the tv, and answered. "Hey!" I heard on the other end of the call. I smiled to myself.<p>

"Hey yourself," I said, trying not to talk too loud. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really. Kinda just wanted to talk to you."

"Well, here I am." He laughed quietly. "You're on shift?" I asked him, getting up to walk around and stretch my legs.

"Yeah, just got off a call, actually. How's your shift going?"

"Alright, pretty slow. Everyone's sleeping."

"And why exactly are you up?"

"Wasn't tired." It had been bothering me all week, so I asked "how was talking with Hallie?" It was quiet for a few moments on the other end.

"It was, good, I guess. We said that we'd keep things simple," he said, sighing after. My brows furrowed.

"You don't sound so happy with that."

"No, I'm fine with it." It got quiet again. "So, do you wanna hang out again?" I was surprised he was asking. Especially since he'd just told me he and Hallie were keeping things simple. Which probably meant they were together again. But I'd had so much fun hanging out with him that I wasn't about to object.

"Yeah sure. When's good for you?"

"How about I pick you up after shift is over. Sound good?"

"Yeah. Hey, talk to me about something to keep me awake." I had been walking around the common area, but now I went back and sat on the couch. We talked for about an hour, before he had to leave to do paperwork. Exhausted, I just ended up falling asleep on the couch. I woke up to a call, and got up, heading to the ambulance. Getting back to the house after the call, I was so tired, but we only had an hour left on shift so sleep seemed pointless. I made coffee, drinking a cup, and then filling up my travel mug. I probably should have asked Matt if we could've met up later, but at the time I didn't care.

Leaving the house after shift, I saw Matt standing by his truck. Chout was trailing behind me, telling me some story I wasn't even trying to pay attention to. When Matt noticed me he waved, and I turned around to Chout. "Hey, I've got to go meet up with someone. I'll see you later." I walked off as quickly as I could, not waiting for his goodbye. Matt started walking towards me, and smiled at me as I walked up.

"Is that your boyfriend?" he asked teasingly. I rolled my eyes and stopped in front of him.

"No, he's my partner. My incredibly talkative partner." He laughed, hearing the annoyance in my voice, and nodded towards his car.

"Let's go." We got in and buckled up, driving off. "So, where do you want to go?" He asked.

"I don't really care. Food would be nice. And coffee, coffee would also be nice." He turned to me quickly, smirking.

"Didn't get much sleep?"

"A decent amount," I lied, yawning almost immediately after. He raised his eyebrows. "Fine, I only got a few hours."

"You know we could've just hung out later." I waved my hand at him.

"It's fine, besides, I like hanging out with you." We turned to face each other and both smiled. We drove to a diner in comfortable silence. When we got out, and were seated and had ordered, I asked, "How was your shift? Any grueling calls?"

"Not really, although Shay and her partner got shot at." I raised my eyebrows, "or so I heard. You'll have to ask her about it. How was yours?"

I shrugged. "Not bad I guess. I don't know, since my old partner left, everything just feels weird. And my new partner kind of idolizes me a little. It's weird."

"No word about your transfer?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Nope."

He nodded, considering. "What made you want to be a paramedic anyway?" I looked at him, I had been busy stirring sugar into my coffee. He was looking at me intently.

"Well, I've always been really interested in medicine, you know. I took a ton of biology and anatomy classes. I got to dissect a cat once," I said, grinning. He looked disgusted and shuddered, grinning after, signalling for me to go on. "I don't know, I mean, I kind of always wanted to be a doctor. A friend of mine was a paramedic so I looked into it. And that's why I'm here."

"So no dreams of big fancy med school?" He asked.

"Not right now. Big fancy med school is kind of expensive. Although I was taking some pre-med classes up until recently. I'm planning on starting up again."

"That's great, Gabby," I looked up at him and he was smiling at me, and looked impressed. "You know if you want, Hallie's at Lake Shore. I'm sure if I asked she's let you tag along on one of her shifts." Hearing her name made my heart sink a little. But I nodded at him and smiled.

"Yeah, that would be great."

* * *

><p>"Oh please, Mills, you weren't that great!" Shay looked at Peter incredulously. It was a Friday night and I was at the bar with everyone from 51. Peter had been telling me about how he broke the record time for some training exercise.<p>

"Yes, I was!" Peter turned to me, "I was, trust me." I grinned at him shaking my head at Shay who was already interjecting.

"Don't get too cocky, Mills. It's just one training exercise." I took a sip of my beer and pointed at Shay.

"She's right you know. Don't let yourself get too cocky. You had one day in the sun, let's see how you handle the other 364 days." Peter grinned at me. Since I had met everyone at the bar about two months ago I'd started going out with them every once and a while. Matt and I would get together once a week, and talk about things. Him and Hallie were together, and working on things I guess. I tried to avoid bringing her up. But tonight her and Matt were coming to the bar. Matt had told me that she was really looking forward to meeting me, and I almost skipped out, but decided not to. Shay grabbed my arm.

"Lets go get another drink," she dragged me to the bar, and ordered two shots.

"Yeah, um, I'm really not feeling it tonight Shay." She looked over at me seriously and handed the shot glass to me. I sighed, and drank.

"I think Mills has a crush on you." Shay smiled at me, and I rolled my eyes. "He's adorable, like a puppy." I laughed.

"I really doubt it, but, alright."

"He totally does!" Shay protested. "You should see it he lights up whenever someone mentions your name at the house. You know I'm glad you're not as busy anymore. I missed hanging out with you, plus all the guys really like you." I looked over at her.

"Why doesn't your partner ever come out?" Shay shrugged.

"I don't know. That girl is a mystery, she barely talks to anyone. No one know anything about her it's creepy. She's kind of hot though." I grinned up at Shay when we heard someone walk up behind us. We both turned around in our bar stools, and there was Matt, and Hallie. She was pretty, tall too. Not exactly what I'd imagined her looking like.

"Hey!" I said, smiling. Matt smiled back at me and pulled me into a hug. Next to us I heard Shay exchanging greetings with Hallie. When I pulled back, Hallie was smiling at me, but she looks somewhat annoyed. Her mouth was twisted as if she had tasted something sour. Matt looked between us.

"Hallie, this is my friend Gabby I told you about. Gabby, this is Hallie." I stuck my hand out and smiled at her.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah you too," she said, shaking my hand. "I've heard a lot about you." I nodded at her, still smiling. Then I turned to Shay.

"Want to go back over there?" I asked, motioning to where Peter was now sitting with Joe.

"Yeah sure," Shay smiled at Matt and Hallie. "We'll see you guys around I'm sure." She hopped off the barstool and I followed her, giving the pair I slight wave before I walked off with Shay. "Well that's Hallie," she said quietly.

"She's really pretty Shay." Shay shrugged.

"Eh, not really my type." We reached the table and sat down, Joe pulling me into a one armed hug.

"Hey Gabby, how you doing?!" His enthusiastic voice and high spirits made me smile.

"Pretty good, and yourself?"

"Not so bad." We sat around talking and laughing for about an hour, before I decided to get a cab home. I said goodbye to Shay and everyone else, and left the bar, pulling out a phone to call a cab company. I was standing outside, when Matt's car pulled up. The window rolled down, Hallie sitting in the passenger seat, and he called out from the drivers side.

"Need a ride?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm just going to call a cab."

"C'mon, Gabby. Free of charge." He grinned at me.I sighed, and walked towards the car, hopping into the back seat. This was a terrible idea. Matt looked back at me.

"This feels an awful lot like my parents coming to pick me up when I was out past curfew." Matt laughed, turning back around and pulling into the road.

"What, you were one of those rebellious kids?" I shrugged, letting out a quiet 'eh', before settling back into my seat. The first few minutes passed in silence before Hallie spoke up.

"So Gabriela, Matt tells me you want to be a doctor."

"Well, yeah. I was taking some pre-med classes a while back."

"You know you could always come in with me one day. I'm sure it'd be okay."

"Yeah, that would be cool. It wouldn't be too much trouble would it?" I felt weird, almost as if I was putting her out. I doubted this was her idea, who would want their boyfriends female friend trailing around with them at work.

"No, no trouble at all. Just tell me when, I'll set it all up."

"Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks." We fell back into silence. When we finally reached my house, I said a quick goodbye and jumped out of the car. That had been incredibly uncomfortable. I wondered what Matt had told Hallie about me. She didn't seem like she like me very much. She had sounded incredibly tense the entire time she spoke to me. Well whatever Matt had told her, she obviously wasn't so happy about us being friends. I tried to ignore the feelings I had towards Matt, but it was close to impossible. Being around him made me incredibly happy, so I wouldn't act on them. I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship, I was happier than I'd been in a while. Since that night I'd first met everyone at the bar, the guys of 51 had brought me into their little family. And I had Shay, and Matt. So I should just try to enjoy how well things were going at the moment.

* * *

><p>"So what exactly are you making?" Matt asked me, taking a sip from his bottle of beer.<p>

"Pollo arroz picante," I said. When he looked at me unsure I assured him, "it'll be good."

"Alright I'll take your word." We'd decided to get together, and since it was pouring outside we figured it would be a lot nicer to do something indoors. So I offered to cook for him and Hallie. But since Hallie was working the night shift, it was just me and Matt in my kitchen. Me standing by the stove making sure nothing burned, Matt sitting at the bar counter and drinking a beer. I was thankful that Hallie couldn't come. The only reason I'd invited her was because I figured she wouldn't appreciate me inviting her boyfriend over to cook for him. It had been a few weeks since we'd met, and we hadn't talked since. Me and Matt continued to hang out, and I continued to ignore my growing feelings for him.

"Hey, did you still want to run a shift with Hallie?" He asked. I turned to look at him quickly before going to the fridge to get myself a beer.

"Oh, yeah I'd kind of forgotten about that. I'd really like to, but I've been busy lately." I settled back against the countertop and opened my beer, taking a swig of it. Matt raised his eyebrows at me.

"Busy with what?"

"You know things." I couldn't think of anything, and Matt knew I was lying. He was smirking at me, and I threw my hand up in admission. "Fine, I haven't been busy. It just feels… I don't know, weird."

"Why is it weird?"

"Well because we're friends, and she's your girlfriend. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like me very much." He looked at me in disbelief. "She doesn't, Matt!"

"Well, I don't think that's true, but. Gabby we're friends, it's not like she has anything to worry about." I suddenly felt incredibly sad. She had nothing to worry about. Because me and Matt were just friends, and nothing was going to happen between us. My face must have fallen when he said that, because he asked me, "Are you ok?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I just didn't feel so good for a second there." He nodded and continued.

"Look, Gabby. You're honestly the best friend I've had since…" He trailed off and when he looked up at me I nodded at him, telling him to go on. "You're the best friend I've had since Darden died, okay. And if Hallie doesn't like you, which I'm pretty sure isn't true, then she'll have to deal with it. I like spending time with you, alright?" I nodded at him and smiled. We changed the subject and ate, him leaving soon after since we both had to work the next day. But all I could think about was for that night was that Hallie had nothing to worry about. Because me and Matt were just friends.

* * *

><p>It was the end of my shift, and I was leaving the locker room when Chout walked in.<p>

"Hey Dawson, Chief wants to talk to you." I quickly ran over everything that had happened over shift, wondering if I'd done something wrong. Nothing came to mind, so I closed my locker and headed towards his office, telling Chout goodbye. I knocked on the chiefs door once I got to his office, opening the door slightly. He motioned me in, and I went and stood in front of his desk.

"You wanted to see me chief?"

"Yes, Dawson. I have some good news. Your transfer came through." My eyes widened and I could feel a smile growing on my face. "A spot for PIC at Firehouse 51 opened up, your next shift here will be your last." He was smiling at me. He stuck his hand out, and I did the same, shaking his hand. "It's been great having you here, you'll be missed."

"Thank you, chief." I smiled at him and turned around walking out. When I got to my car I sat there, smiling to myself. I felt so jittery and happy. My transfer had finally come through, and I was transferring to 51 of all houses. I'd get to work with Shay everyday, which was exciting. We'd worked together for a short period of time a year or two back, so I wasn't too worried about it. Thinking of Shay, I pulled out my phone and called her.

"Hey, what's up?" She said once she'd picked up.

"Uh, I've got good news. My transfer came in."

"Gabby that's great! What house were you transferred to?"

"I was transferred to 51, actually." There was silence on the other end before Shay spoke again.

"Is this a joke? This better not be a joke." I laughed.

"No it's not a joke, I just talked to my chief. I'll be at 51 two shifts from now." Shay started laughing, and let out a small cheer.

"This is great, oh my god! We need to go out for a drink to celebrate. Can you meet up tonight? I'll invite the guys, they'll be so excited."

"No, don't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Well, I just feel like it needs to be professional, you know? I just wanted to tell you, really."

"True, true. Are you going to tell Casey?" I thought about it for a second.

"I hadn't really thought that far, should I? I mean we're just friends, and it's not like I'm on truck with him."

"I don't know, I guess it's up to you. Anyways, I got to go, I still haven't left the house. But I'll text you later, and we can meet for drinks."

Saying goodbye to Shay, I hung up and drove home, wondering if I should tell Matt. We'd become great friends, and it seemed like the kind of thing you'd tell a friend about, so I decided I'd call him once I got home. I was so happy, I couldn't keep myself from smiling. If anyone saw me they'd probably think I was an idiot, I was smiling so wide. When I pulled up in front of my house, I saw Matt sitting on my doorstep. Confused, I parked, and got out. He'd stood up, so I walked to my door and stood facing him. "Hey, what're you doing here?" Matt smiled at me.

"Nothing specific really, just felt like doing something." I nodded.

"Well, if you want, we can go get ice cream to celebrate." I gleamed up at him, and he looked back at me confused. "My transfer came through!" His face broke into a huge smile, and he pulled me into a hug.

"That's great Gabby." He squeezed me tight, and lifted me off the ground, spinning me around. I laughed and he set me down, asking "what house are you at?"

"I'm actually going to be at 51, shift after the next." I dragged the toe of my shoe on the ground, looking at him carefully, gauging his reaction. He looked surprised at first, but then his face broke into a smile even bigger than it was before.

"This is great, Gabby." I sighed in relief, smiling back at him. "Let's go celebrate."

* * *

><p>I'd settled in pretty well at 51, just as I'd expected. This was honestly the first time at my life that I'd truly been happy. Shay and I were close as ever, and me and Matt spent a lot of time together. I'd sort of accepted at this point that we weren't going to be more than friends, at least for the time being. It was the annual barbeque, and I was sitting at a table with Shay, eating food and drinking beer.<p>

"So, what about that hot detective in Antonios unit?" Shay smiled at me and nudged me, while Severide raised his eyebrows at me.

"What about him?"

"Well, you've talked to him a few times, he's nice to look at, just jump his bones already."

"Okay, really?"

"Gabs, seriously how long was it been?" Severide snorted and I looked at Shay warningly "What?"

"Not appropriate. But yeah, it's been a while."

"So, just get to it. Go get your hetero on!"

"What exactly are you guys talking about?" Matt said, walking up to the table, Hallie right behind him. Severide pulled a chair out for him.

"Please, Casey, come save me from all this girl talk." Matt grinned at me, looking between me and Shay, and I smiled back. They both sat down, and when I glanced over quickly at Hallie I saw her giving me a look that didn't seem too far from annoyance.

"There's actually no girl talk going on anymore. No stories to be told."

"Oh please, we're talking about Dawson's love life there's a million stories to be told. It's a disaster. I keep telling you you should just switch teams." I rolled my eyes at Shay, taking a drink of my beer. "Although we tried that already and even that didn't work out too well." I almost spit out my drink and I saw Matt's eyes widen and Severide's eyebrows go up. Hallie was just sitting there looking uncomfortable.

"Shay, stop it." I said strictly, hoping she'd understand that this conversation wasn't going to continue. She shrugged, and looked at me innocently. "Alright, let's talk about something else." Matt chuckled, and started talking about some guy he was working for, as I sat there thinking about what Shay was saying. My love life honestly was a mess. I hadn't had a serious boyfriend in a while, and hadn't even been on a date for about a year now. Not that it even really mattered to me. I'd never really felt the need for companionship. But with my life so on track now, I thought maybe it was time to improve on other areas. My thoughts started to wander and deciding I was thirsty I got up. "I'm going to grab a beer, anyone else want something?" Everyone shook their heads and I got up, walking over to the cooler to grab a beer. I was digging through the ice when I felt someone walk over next to me. I looked up and realizing it was Severide smiled at him, handing him the beer I'd just found.

"Thanks. So, when're you going to fess up to having a huge crush on Casey?" I groaned in response. "Seriously, Gabby. There's no way it's going to work out between them." I decided to ignore that, not wanting to catch false hope.

"How do you know? Am I really that obvious?"

"Nah, me and Shay can definitely tell though."

"Yeah well, I'm moving on. It was dumb for me to think it was going to go anywhere anyways. Hey, do you have any cute friends in other houses you want to set me up with?" He raised his eyebrows and put his hand on my back to lead me back to the table.

"Well what's your type?"

"I'm not picky. Try not to pick anyone too obnoxious though." We sat down and found Shay back at the table by herself.

"Thank god you two are back, I was sitting alone over here all bored. Matt and Hallie went to talk to Heather. What were you two talking about anyways?"

"I'm kicking you out, Gabby's moving in with me." I laughed and Shay rolled her eyes and punched Kelly in the shoulder. "I'm going to set Gabby up with a few friends of mine."

"You have friends?" She asked mockingly, and he got up, tugging her ponytail and walking away. "God does no one want to sit with us?"

"It's alright, we're better off just the two of us."

"You've got that right girl."

* * *

><p>I was in the kitchen making dinner with Shay when all the guys walked in from a call.<p>

"Hey is that lasagna?" Christopher called out as he walked in. "Dawson you coming here was the best thing to happen to us, even some of Mills' food wasn't this good."

"Hey, my stuff is great." Mills objected. I grinned at them before putting the pasta in the oven.

"You have to admit, some of your stuff is a little bland Mills." Peter feigned hurt while I heard a damn come from mouch. I walked over and sat next to Casey. "So, I have a project for you."

"Oh really?" He put down the newspaper he was reading. "I have this friend, Jay, who needs help fixing a door or two in his house. He's kinda busy and I think if he tried to use a hammer he'd hurt himself. You down?"

I'd run into Jay a few times at the station Antonio worked at, and after a few coffee dates we'd become friends. Honestly, he wasn't too bad looking and I could definitely see myself dating him, but I was taking things one step at a time, and trying not to overthink things.

"Oh. Yeah I guess I can do that. Give me his number, I'll set it up with him."

"Cool." My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, smiling as I read the text from Antonio's wife.

"Why so smiley, is that your new boyfriend or something?" I looked up at Matt, who if I didn't know better had a hint of jealousy on his face.

"No, it's my sister in law." He seemed satisfied with my answer, and went back to reading the paper. It was interesting though. Him an Hallie were still together, why would he even care? It was probably just a friend thing. "Hey Shay, Diego's birthday is this Friday, is it possible you want to come with me?"

"Sorry Gabs, I can't. Kelly's going to be gone all day and our cables been out all week, the cable guy is coming." I groaned. "It'll be fine!"

"I'll come with you." I looked over at Matt who was still reading the newspaper.

"You sure? It'll be kind of boring."

"If there's cake I don't care." He looked up and I muttered about how much of little kid he was, making him laugh. Just then a call came in and I got up, telling the guys that the food needed to be out of the oven in 25 minutes, and ran out with Shay. We were on our way when my phone chirped. I pulled it out of my pocket and smiled, seeing it was from Jay.

"What's got you smiling?"

"Remember that hot detective in Antonio's unit?"

Shay grabbed me by the arm dramatically and I laughed, swatting it away. "No wonder you've been all smiley lately! You've been having sex."

"Alright, no. I'm happy because my life is going well, not because I'm having sex. But Jay and I have been hanging out. I think he's going to ask me out." I looked over at Shay to see her grinning at me. "I've got you, I've got Matt, I'm finally enjoying my job again. And now I may be getting a hot boyfriend."

"I'm going to be honest and say I wish that hot boyfriend was Matt."

"Ugh, not this again. Look, Matt has Hallie. I was only going to make myself miserable pining over him. But I'm over it now. It's not like Matt is the perfect guy or something." I looked over at Shay and rolled my eyes at her expression. "Don't even look at me like that."

"Like what?" She grinned and I couldn't help but grin back as she pulled over and I made myself focus on my job.


End file.
